Regulatory Deadline: OSHA 300A summary must be posted by Feb. 1The deadline for posting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses is coming up next Saturday, Feb. 1. The OSHA 300A is used to summarize the entries from the full OSHA From 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. OSHA requires companies to post this form no later than Feb. 1 each year and keep it posted through April 30 in a conspicuous place where employee notices are typically posted. Companies must also ensure that the posted summary is not altered, defaced or covered by other material during that time period. Companies must post the summary even if there were no recordable injury or illness cases for the year.

Regulatory Update: NACD opposes Inherently Safer Technologies in joint industry letter to White HouseLast week, NACD and 12 other associations sent a letter to President Barack Obama and the Interagency Working Group on Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security. In the letter, the associations commended the IWG for its important work, but took exception to a portion of its recent report that focused on "safer alternatives." The letter stated, "We believe opportunities exist to further improve safety and security and will continue to offer our expertise to assist the Working Group, but we strongly oppose any proposal that will create a federal requirement to assess or implement so-called Inherently Safer Technologies."

Action Alert: Please send stories on hazardous materials safety permit denials to NACDHave you been denied a Hazardous Materials Safety Permit due to Out-of-Service disqualifications? If so, send us your story! Currently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration can deny a Hazardous Materials Safety Permit to motor carriers solely on the basis of hazardous materials out-of-service disqualifications with no opportunity to appeal or request a waiver. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-PA-15, a member of the Appropriations Transportation subcommittee, has been working diligently to require adequate due process for motor carriers. In some cases, these permits are the difference in whether our members are able to continue operating or shut their doors. NACD has reached out to Rep. Dent on this issue and he wants to hear your story in order to help him make a strong case on why this system must be reformed. We will be gathering as many stories from NACD members that have been affected by this issue to send to Rep. Dent's office as soon as possible.

Legislative Update: Senators introduced legislation in response to chemical spillOn Jan. 27, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., introduced the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act of 2014. This amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act is intended to create state-run programs designed to set minimum standards of safety for chemical facilities that could pose a threat to sources of drinking water. The bill would require new reporting mandates and impose chemical facilities to meet new construction and leak detection standards as well as have an approved emergency response plan in place. The bill also mandates state inspections of facilities every three or five years, depending on the facility's proximity to drinking water sources. To read more about the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act, please click here.

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Advocacy Resources: Make your hotel reservations for the 2014 Washington Fly-In!NACD's annual Washington Fly-In will be held April 30-May 1 this year. The Fly-In is a great opportunity not only to meet your senator or representative but also to lobby them on the important issues affecting your business. By attending the Fly-In, you will be able to tell your member of Congress how increasing tax burdens, regulatory burdens and health care costs are affecting your business. You will also learn firsthand how policy is crafted and how you can affect that process by telling your story. For the Fly-In, NACD will give you the tools, messaging and training to advance the chemical distribution industry's legislative agenda before Congress. Join us April 30-May 1 to make a difference! To book your hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, please click here.

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Regulatory Compliance Reminder: Importers must file TRI reportsThis is a reminder that if your company imports a chemical on the Section 313 Toxic Release Inventory list in a volume that exceeds the posted threshold for that chemical, annual reporting is required. Also to be subject to the reporting requirement, the facility must be included in a TRI-covered North American Industry Classification System, typically 4246 – chemical wholesalers and employ 10 or more full-time equivalent employees. TRI reporting under Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act is based on established thresholds of amounts manufactured (including imported), processed or used. The thresholds are not based on amounts released.

Regulatory Update: EPA publishes revised notice of arrival form for import of pesticides and devicesThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has revised the Notice of Arrival form (EPA Form 3540-1). Importers should begin using the new form immediately. For importation into the United States, a pesticide must be registered under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Section 3 or exempt from pesticide registration requirements. Unregistered pesticides that meet the requirements in 40 C.F.R. § 152.30 also may be imported, as may compliant pest control devices. A NOA must be submitted to the EPA Regional Office having jurisdiction over the state/territory in which the Port of Entry is located prior to the arrival of the shipment. EPA must complete Part II of the NOA, indicating the disposition to be made of the shipment of pesticide or device upon its arrival in the United States, and return the completed NOA to the importer. Upon arrival of the shipment of pesticide or device, the importer must present the completed NOA to U.S. Customs. For a complete explanation of the changes to the form, please click here to read a recent memorandum by NACD Environmental Regulatory Preferred Provider Bergeson & Campbell. Click here for the revised form and related instructions.

For more than two decades UL has provided ANSI accredited certification services for drinking water treatment chemicals. UL’s experience, knowledge and dedicated staff provides municipalities’ the confidence that UL Classified treatment chemicals will meet the health effects requirements of NSF Standard 60.

Regulatory Update: Chicago mayor seeks to take hazmat transportation fee nationalRecently, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel called for a hazardous materials transportation fee on tank cars stored in or moving through his city of Chicago. Last week, he expanded on this proposal by calling for the establishment of a national hazardous materials transportation fee. Mayor Emmanuel proposed the national fee before a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, stating that it would provide funding for investments in rail safety and improvements in first-responder capabilities to handle hazardous materials transportation incidents. Several other large-city mayors also expressed support for the fee during last week's meeting. NACD and other members of the hazardous materials transportation community are prepared to fight such a fee. Shippers and carriers of hazardous materials currently pay an annual Hazardous Materials Registration Fee to the Department of Transportation, which is used to fund grants to states and tribes for hazardous materials response planning and training.

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Regulatory Update: NTSB calls for tougher standards for rail transportation of flammable liquidsLast week, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a series of recommendations to the Department of Transportation to address the safety risks of transporting crude oil and other flammable liquids by rail. The NTSB issued these recommendations in coordination with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. The NTSB notes that crude oil shipments by rail have increased by over 400 percent since 2005, according to the Association of American Railroad's Annual Report of Hazardous Materials. The NTSB is concerned that major loss of life, property damage and environmental consequences can occur when large volumes of crude oil or other flammable liquids are transported on a single train involved in an accident, as seen in the Lac Megantic, Quebec, accident, as well as several accidents the NTSB has investigated in the U.S.

Why improving chemical facility safety and security must be a national priorityOpEdNews.comUnder President Barack Obama's Executive Order 13650 a series of listening sessions are held around the country, allowing an opportunity for the public to provide comments and input on chemical facility safety and security measures. A look at previous incidents — at home and abroad — shows why this should be a national priority.

Safety board: PPH, MCHM should not be present in drinking waterRegister-HeraldCrude MCHM and its companion chemical PPH should not be in drinking water at any level, the chair of the Chemical Safety Board said Jan. 24. Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso said those chemicals are created to be reactive with other chemicals and have the potential to affect human beings. "We should be worried about it," Moure-Eraso said. The company that manufactures the chemicals — Eastman Chemicals produced the MCHM, Dow made the PPH — is responsible for testing the chemicals and providing answers about chemical safety guidelines, Moure-Eraso said.

A spill shows the myth of over-regulationThe Boston GlobeIf anything could puncture the myth of overregulation, it should have been the plight of a third-of-a-million thirsty West Virginians. The Jan. 9 spill from a plant that sells chemicals for coal processing poisoned the water supply near Charleston and exposed the lie that the government is vigilant about public safety.

UT study: Driver shortage — not carrier rates — hottest HOS buttonFleet OwnerThanks to reform of the hours of service rule, shippers can certainly expect to see carriers increase rates, but trucking will be hit hard by a hike in both the shortage of drivers and their turnover rate, per a recent analysis of the impact of the 2013 changes to HOS conducted by The Global Supply Chain Institute of the University of Tennessee's College of Business Administration.

Major transformation ahead for freight transportation, say analystsFleet OwnerThe freight transportation industry — particularly trucking — is undergoing and will continue to undergo what analysts describe as "major" transformation in the near-term due to a variety of intersecting factors involving everything from increased regulatory oversight to demands for more paperless transmission of shipment information.

Study identifies trends in freight charges for shippersTruckinginfoA new study provides insight into the changes and trends in transportation accessorial charges paid by shippers. Third-party logistics provider Transplace has released the results of its annual benchmarking study that includes data from more than 150 shippers, representing more than $12 billion dollars in annual freight spending. It identifies the customary types of charges and rates paid by shippers beyond the basic linehaul fees.